Egypt: man sets himself on fire after school withholds son’s textbooks

An Egyptian man set himself on fire in the Nile Delta city of Kafr El-Dawar on Saturday in protest over the decision by his son’s school to withhold textbooks until they are paid for. The man, identified by local media only as “AM” poured a substance on his clothes inside the primary school because of “ill-treatment by the school principal and her refusal to hand over textbooks” to his son.

Following preliminary investigations, it was reported that a number of staff managed to put the fire out and were able to save the man before he was transferred to a hospital. He is said to be recovering from minor burns.

The school principal has since been suspended by the educational administration of Al-Beheira governorate. She has also been referred to a disciplinary committee for violating the education ministry’s directive on issuing textbooks to students regardless of whether they are paid for or not.

Al-Arabiya reported that the man’s wife said the reason for her husband’s self-immolation was his “mistreatment” by the school principal. She alleged that he was beaten by security staff at the school, and that his son’s file has been lost by its administrators. She added that, following the incident, an employee from the school handed over the textbooks to her and that the fees had been paid.

The self-immolation is the latest in a series of violent or deadly incidents that have taken place since Egypt’s academic year commenced on 2 October. In one tragic case, a schoolgirl died and 15 others were injured after the collapse of a staircase in Al-Mutamadiya Preparatory School for Girls in the Kerdasa Educational Directorate in Giza Governorate. Another primary school student died after falling from the third floor in a school in Agouza, also in Giza, due to what officials attributed to “a stampede among students during recess”.

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